trouble with my wood stove

[lakemike49]

is anyone familiar with an american eagle wood stove? i cannot get mine to draft right or burn very long

 

[bholler]

What chimney is it hooked to and how is it hooked up? What wood are you burning and how long has it been cut split and stacked? What is your burning procedure like?

 

[lakemike49]

What chimney is it hooked to and how is it hooked up? What wood are you burning and how long has it been cut split and stacked? What is your burning procedure like?

 

[lakemike49]

bholler, thanks for the reply. wood stove in approx 2500 sq ft cathedral ceiling home, stove on a hearth approx 1ft off top of stove single wall pipe that 90 degrees into chimney with stainless pipe that goes approx 25ft up. burning good dry stacked hard woods split dryed and split for over a year. the problem is stove heats up extremely fast, airtight stove with glass front doors, but only two knobs in front of stove to control airflow, cannot have both doors open at same time or smoke pours out, i can burn with right door slightly open or both doors closed either way eats wood like a monster with both doors shut stove pipe gets to 600 degrees within minutes and stays between 500 and 600 degrees for about 45 min with one door open slightly stays between 400 and 500 degrees large firebox normally burn between 2 to 4 good size splits, any more and it bakes me out of the house no matter what only can get about 1 hour burn before i am down to ashes. i can find no info on this stove, only has large plate between wood fire and flue, was hoping someone knew about this american eagle brand, mabey time to let it go and get a different brand. not my first time burning wood, just my first season with this stove. never used a stove with just two dials to control air flow. thanks for your reply
lakemike

 

[bholler]

Well you should not have the doors open when you are burning to start. Do you have a stack damper? how much do you have the dials open when you are burning? If your stove gets hot extremely fast you done have a draft problem chances are the smoking is from poor stove design. I know i have worked on American eagles but i don't remember any specifics.

 

[lakemike49]

Well you should not have the doors open when you are burning to start. Do you have a stack damper? how much do you have the dials open when you are burning? If your stove gets hot extremely fast you done have a draft problem chances are the smoking is from poor stove design. I know i have worked on American eagles but i don't remember any specifics.

 

[lakemike49]

i have a fire screen when door is cracked open, only way i can control the heat have tried, do not have a stack damper, will try a few more combos with the dials but i think you may be right poor design, thanks again.

 

[bholler]

i have a fire screen when door is cracked open, only way i can control the heat have tried, do not have a stack damper, will try a few more combos with the dials but i think you may be right poor design, thanks again.

How far do you close the dials? do the doors fit tight? do they have gasket?

 

[lakemike49]

How far do you close the dials? do the doors fit tight? do they have gasket?

 

[lakemike49]

i have dialed them down pretty tight and yes my doors do have gaskets, will try different settings and let you know what i find

 

[begreen]

How well seasoned is the wood? Do you know when it was cut and stacked? Poorly seasoned wood is no fun to burn.

 

[lakemike49]

How well seasoned is the wood? Do you know when it was cut and stacked? Poorly seasoned wood is no fun to burn.

thanks for replying, wood is not the problem well seasoned dry split stacked hardwoods. strange design on this stove, never seen one with just a metal plate between fire box and flue that sits on a slight angle making the draft hit the plate and go up on the front side, mabey i will pull a bit forward to let the draft go up front and back side and fiddle with the front dual control knobs more. the stove puts out super amount of heat, problem is can not control burn time, no matter what setting after approx one hour i am down to coals and if i crack the doors open left door has to stay shut or smoke pours out. i can find no info on this stove, maybe just poor design. on a side note i can see where a small hole on the right side of stove has been welded over may at one time been another air intake. wish someone knew about this stove, maybe it was meant to heat a large barn, even on a modest load of wood it kicks out a monster amount of heat. will keep fiddling with it for now, thanks for the reply

 

[bholler]

Post some pictures. That plate is a baffle it keeps allot more of the heat in the stove you want it there many whose old stoves don't have one add it to increase the efficiency.

 

[lakemike49]

kinda an old fart never posted pics before, i will ask my son inlaw for help on that, question if i took out the baffle a lot of the heat would go right up the flue, but would that harm anything? the plate just lifts right out, heavy piece of metal, but just sits on 3 brackets. i currently waste my heat by having to open my sliding doors just to keep the living room under 80

 

[bholler]

question if i took out the baffle a lot of the heat would go right up the flue, but would that harm anything?

You would be wasting wood and it would have a slightly higher risk of lighting off a chimney fire but not much difference there at all.

i currently waste my heat by having to open my sliding doors just to keep the living room under 80

I would say you probably need a smaller stove in that case. But you should really be able to control it more what happens if you shut both dials all the way?